LGBTQ community calls on Democratic lawmakers to push back against leveled attacks from GOP

Members of the LGBTQ community are urging Democratic lawmakers to take more aggressive actions to oppose Republican attacks. According to KHQ-Q6, the latest controversy comes as Democratic lawmakers face obstacles in combatting the attacks leveled at the LGBTQ community, namely transgenders.

Although it's no secret that Democratic lawmakers are supportive of the LGBTQ community and its movement, the news outlet insists they are "struggling to counter a barrage of GOP attacks on LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people. With measured responses and occasional capitulation, Democrats like Mills are aiming to avoid getting sucked further into culture wars that serve mostly to galvanize the Republican base."

Many Americans in the LGBTQ community have also admitted they feel "abandoned" by the Democratic Party. “Our lives and our existence are being used as political fodder to ramp up the GOP base, and they’re not coming to our defense,” said Deja Alvarez, a transgender woman who placed third in the Democratic primary election for a Philadelphia state legislative district heavily comprised of LGBTQ members. “They’re not rallying the troops and saying, ‘Hey, we can’t stand for this.’”

According to LGBTQ activists, the silence among Democrats pales in comparison to the actions of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), who has verbalized his concerns about Republican attacks on the LGBTQ community. “These are the kinds of actions we need people to take," Alvarez said, “but not just because it's Pride month.”

Fran Hutchins, executive director of the Equality Federation, also weighed in with her concerns. “The root of why this is happening is a real lack of familiarity with and lack of understanding for trans folks and what it’s like to be transgender,” Hutchins said.

The concerns come as Republicans are adopting aggressive "cancel culture" actions with bans on books while incorporating laws that specifically target and alienate members of the LGBTQ community. With all that is transpiring, Liz Seaton, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund policy director, explained how it could be beneficial for candidates to speak out about their real values as a means of showing how much they actually care about their constituents.

“It goes well for candidates when they stand up and say what their real values are and say what they believe about what’s really going on with legislation,” said Seaton. “When they speak the truth from values, they will be speaking from their heart, and their constituents will respond.”